Lid structure, apparatus and method for displaying graphical information

ABSTRACT

A lid structure, apparatus and method for displaying graphical information uses beams of coherent light that are emitted in a scanning manner to project the beams of coherent light onto a display surface to form the graphical information on the display surface.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many electrical products include a display device to display menus,commands, inputs and other graphical information so that users are ableto configure and operate the products. As an example, a combined scan,copy and print device or an “All In One” (AIO) device typically includesan LCD display to display commands, e.g., “set number of copies” or“adjust contrast”, and inputs, e.g., the number “1” or the word“normal”. Since display devices are relatively expensive, cost sensitiveproducts typically include a low-cost display device, such as a smallcharacter LCD display, which may be ambient-lit or self-illuminating.

A concern with these electrical products with a small LCD display isthat the display is difficult to read, especially if the display is anambient-lit display. In addition, the viewing angle of the LCD displayis typically narrow. Consequently, a user may have bend down to look atthe display more closely to read the displayed information. Since asingle command may require several buttons to be pressed, the user mayhave to maintain the compromised posture for a significant period oftime.

Another concern is that the small size of the LCD display limits theamount of characters that can be displayed. As an example, a small LCDdisplay may be limited to twenty characters on two lines. Thus, in thisexample, a user may have to navigate through a complex maze of menus tofind the desired selection.

These concerns can be resolved by using a more sophisticated display.Improvements in display technology, such as ¼ VGA, have enhancedreadability and viewing angle. However, the use of these sophisticateddisplays will add significant cost to the end products.

In view of these concerns, what is needed is an electrical apparatus andmethod for displaying graphical information on a large area withincreased viewing angle and enhanced readability without significantincrease in cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A lid structure, apparatus and method for displaying graphicalinformation uses beams of coherent light that are emitted in a scanningmanner to project the beams of coherent light onto a display surface toform the graphical information on the display surface. The use of thescanned beams of coherent light to form the graphical information on thedisplay surface eliminates the need to include an electronic display onthe apparatus, which may introduce increased cost or limitations, suchas narrow viewing angle and inadequate readability.

An apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the invention comprisesa display surface, a scanning light device configured to emit beams ofcoherent light in a scanning manner to project the beams of coherentlight onto the display surface, and a controller operably connected tothe scanning light device to control emission and scanning of the beamsof coherent light from the scanning light device onto the displaysurface to form graphical information on the display surface.

A lid structure in accordance with an embodiment of the inventioncomprises a housing having top and bottom sides, a translucent panelattached to the housing at one of the top and bottom sides to provide adisplay surface, and a scanning light device attached to the housing inan interior region of the housing. The scanning light device isconfigured to emit beams of coherent light in a scanning manner toproject the beams of coherent light onto the translucent panel todisplay graphical information on the display surface.

A method for displaying graphical information in accordance with anembodiment of the invention comprises emitting beams of coherent lightonto a display surface of an electrical apparatus, including scanningthe beams of coherent light across the display surface of the electricalapparatus to form graphical information on the display surface of theelectrical apparatus.

Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, illustrated by way of example of theprinciples of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of an electrical apparatus in accordancean embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1B is a block diagram of the components included in the electricalapparatus of FIG. 1A in accordance an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates how graphical information is formed on a displaysurface by emitting beams of coherent light in a scanning manner inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 3A-3E are perspective views of a scanning light device of theelectrical apparatus of FIGS. 1A and 1B in accordance with differentembodiments of the invention.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are cross-sectional views of a scanner lid in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a method for displaying graphicalinformation in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An electrical apparatus 100 in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention is shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B. As described in more detailbelow, the electrical apparatus 100 uses multiple beams of coherentlight to display graphical information on a display surface 102 of theapparatus. Thus, the electrical apparatus 100 does not need aconventional electronic display device, such as an LCD display.Consequently, the electrical apparatus 100 does not suffer from narrowviewing angle and reduced readability associated with a low cost displaydevice, such as a small character LCD display, or significant increasein cost associated with a sophisticated display device, such as a ¼ VGAdisplay. The electrical apparatus 100 is illustrated in FIG. 1A as beinga combined scan, copy and print device or an “All In One” (AIO) device.However, in other embodiments, the electrical apparatus 100 can be anyelectrical product that needs to display graphical information.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the AIO device 100 includes a housing structure104, which houses the internal components of the AIO device. Theinternal components include a controller 106, a scanning and printingmechanism 108 and a supply of print media 110. The controller 106 isconfigured to transmit, receive and process signals from variouscomponents of the AIO device 100 to control the functions of the AIOdevice. As described in more detail below, the controller 106 controlsthe display function of the AIO device 100. The controller 106 can beimplemented as one or more digital signal processors. The scanning andprinting mechanism 108 is configured to electronically scan an objectplaced on a scanning surface 112, which is provided by a transparentpanel 114 attached to the housing structure 104 and positioned at theupper surface of the housing structure. The scanned image can be printedonto a print medium, e.g., a sheet of paper, from the supply of printmedia 110 by the scanning and printing mechanism 108, or transmitted toa computer (not shown) connected to the AIO device 100. The scanning andprinting mechanism 108 can also print an electronic file, such as anelectronic document or a digital image file, from the connected computeronto a print medium. Therefore, the AIO device 100 is able to performcopy, scan and print functions. The scanning and printing mechanism 108is a common component found in conventional AIO devices, and thus, isnot described herein in detail.

The AIO device 100 further includes a user control panel 116, a scannerlid 118 and a scanning light device 120. The user control panel 116 isattached to the housing structure 104, as shown in FIG. 1A, and includescontrols, such as buttons, dials, levers and/or knobs, to allow a userto enter inputs into the AIO device 100. The user control panel 116 isconnected to the controller 106 to transmit the inputs entered by a userthrough the controls on the user control panel. The scanner lid 118 isattached to the housing structure 104 such that the scanner lid can bepivoted to open the scanner lid, which exposes the transparent scanningsurface 112 of the AIO device 100. The scanner lid 118 is a structurethat includes a planar lower surface, which faces the transparentscanning surface 112 when the scanner lid is closed. Thus, when thescanner lid 118 is closed, the lower surface of the scanner lid is notvisible to a user. However, when the scanner lid 118 is opened, thelower surface of the scanner lid becomes visible to the user. This lowersurface of the scanner lid 118 is used as the display surface 102 of theAIO device 100 to display graphical information, such as commands toenter inputs, e.g., “set number of copies” or “adjust contrast”, andentered inputs, e.g., the number “1” or the word “normal”. The graphicalinformation is displayed on the display surface, i.e., the lower surfaceof the scanner lid, by the scanning light device 120 of the MO device100.

The scanning light device 120 is configured to project one or morescanning beams of coherent light onto the display surface 102 of thescanner lid 118 to produce graphical information on the display surface.Graphical information may include letters, numbers and symbols(collectively referred to herein as “symbols”). The scanning lightdevice 120 is attached to the housing structure 104 and is positioned onthe housing structure to project the scanning beams of coherent lightonto the display surface 102 of the scanner lid 118 when the scanner lidis opened. As illustrated in FIG. 1A, the scanning light device 120 ispositioned at the upper surface of the housing structure 104 at alocation adjacent to the scanning surface 112 and near the back of thehousing structure. However, in other embodiments, the scanning lightdevice 120 can be positioned anywhere on the housing structure 104 aslong as the scanning light device can project scanning beams of coherentlight onto the display surface 102 of the scanner lid 118 when thescanner lid is opened. The scanning light device 120 is connected to thecontroller 106, which controls the emission and scanning of beams ofcoherent light from the scanning light device.

The scanning light device 120 produces graphical information on thedisplay surface 102 of the scanner lid 118 by emitting beams of coherentlight at different locations on the display surface in a scanningmanner. As used herein, emitting beams of coherent light in a scanningmanner means that the beams of coherent light are emitted such that thebeams are sequentially emitted along a predefined direction. Forexample, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the number “8” can be generated byemitting beams 202 of coherent light at selected locations of afive-by-eight (5×8) matrix 204 of possible locations on the displaysurface 102 in a scanning manner along a longitudinal direction (Xdirection), as indicated by the arrow 206. In FIG. 2, the crosshatchedlocations are the selected locations at which the beams 202 of coherentlight are projected onto the display surface 102 as the beams arescanned along the longitudinal direction to form the number “8”. In thisexample, the scanning light device 120 includes a set of seven lightsources to emit up to seven beams of coherent light at a given momentduring the scanning process so that every selected location on aparticular column of the matrix 204 can be emitted with a beam ofcoherent light. Other symbols can be produced on the display surface 102by emitting and, scanning beams of coherent light at different selectedlocations of the matrix 204.

In the manner described above, a line of symbols can be displayed on thedisplay surface 102 of the scanner lid 118 by emitting beams of coherentlight in a single linear scan across the display surface. One or moreadditional lines of symbols can be displayed on the display surface 102of the scanner lid 118 by further emitting beams of coherent light in alinear scan across the display surface, below or above the previouslydisplayed line of symbols. This would require one additional linear scanfor each additional line of symbols. Alternatively, the scanning lightdevice 120 may include additional sets of light sources to displaymultiple lines of symbols with a single linear scan across the displaysurface 102 of the scanner lid 118.

In an embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 3A, the scanning light device120 includes a single line beam generator 302 and a scanning mechanism304. The single line beam generator 302 is designed to emit beams ofcoherent light that can be linearly scanned to produce a single line ofsymbols on the display surface 102 of the scanner lid 118 (not shown inFIG. 3A). In this embodiment, the single line beam generator 302includes a set of seven lasers 306, which are linearly mounted on asubstrate 308 to form a linear array of lasers. However, in otherembodiments, the beam generator 302 may include fewer or more lasers.The lasers 306 may be laser diodes, such as vertical cavity surfaceemitting lasers (VCSELs), or any other type of lasers. In alternativeembodiments, the single line beam generator 302 may include other lightsources, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs) with optical components,which can produce beams of coherent light. The beam generator 302 isattached to the scanning mechanism 304, which is designed to move thebeam generator. Specifically, the scanning mechanism 304 can pivot orpan the beam generator 302, as shown by the curved arrow 310 in FIG. 3A,so that the emitted beams of coherent light, i.e., beams of laser light,can be scanned across the display surface 102 along the longitudinaldirection to produce a line of symbols on the display surface. In thisembodiment, the scanning mechanism 304 is also designed to tilt the beamgenerator 302, as shown by the curved arrow 312 in FIG. 3A, so thatbeams of coherent light can scanned be across the display surface 102along the longitudinal direction at different vertical positions todisplay additional lines of symbols on the display surface.

In an alternative embodiment, the beam generator 302 may include fewerlasers than the number of lasers needed to produce a single line ofsymbols with a single linear scan of beams of coherent light. In thisalternative embodiment, multiple linear scans of beams of coherent lightare needed to produce a single line of symbols.

In another embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 3B, the scanning lightdevice 120 includes the single line beam generator 302 and a scanningreflective device 314. In this embodiment, the beam generator 302 isdesigned to be stationary. Thus, the beam generator 302 cannot be pannedor tilted to change the direction of the beams of coherent light emittedfrom the lasers 306. Rather, the scanning reflective device 314 operatesto reflect the beams of coherent light from the lasers 306 of the beamgenerator 302 at different angles to change the direction of the beamsso that the beams can be projected onto desired locations on the displaysurface 102 (not shown in FIG. 3B). The scanning reflective device 314includes seven movable mirrors 316 for the seven lasers 306 of the beamgenerator 302. Each movable mirror 316 is positioned to receive beams ofcoherent light from one of the lasers 306 of the beam generator 302 andto reflect those beams to selected locations on the display surface 102of the scanner lid 118 in the X and/or Y directions. Thus, beams ofcoherent light from the lasers 306 of the beam generator 302 can bescanned by the movable mirrors 316 of the scanning reflective device 314across the display surface 102 so that one or more lines of symbols canbe displayed on the display surface. In this embodiment, the movablemirrors 316 are part of a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) device,and thus, the scanning reflective device 314 is a MEMS mirror arraydevice. In an alternative embodiment, the movable mirrors 316 may bemultifaceted reflective optical elements attached to mechanisms to movethe optical elements to selectively reflect beams of coherent light fromthe lasers 306 onto selected locations on the display surface 102.

In an alternative embodiment, the beam generator 302 and the scanningreflective device 314 may include fewer lasers and movable mirrors,respectively, than the number of lasers and movable mirrors needed toproduce a single line of symbols with a single linear scan of beams ofcoherent light. In this alternative embodiment, multiple linear scans ofbeams of coherent light are needed to produce a single line of symbols.

In another embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 3C, the scanning lightdevice 120 includes a multi-line beam generator 318 and a scanningmechanism 320. The multi-line beam generator 318 is designed to producemultiple sets of beams of coherent light. In this embodiment, themulti-line beam generator 318 includes two sets of seven lasers 306,which are linearly mounted on a substrate 322 to form a linear array oflasers with a sufficient space between the two sets of lasers. Thus, inthis embodiment, the multi-line beam generator 318 can be used toproduce two lines of symbols with a single linear scan across thedisplay surface 102 of the scanner lid 118 (not shown in FIG. 3C) in theX direction. However, in other embodiments, the multi-line beamgenerator 318 may include additional sets of lasers to produce more thantwo lines of symbols with a single linear scan. Furthermore, in otherembodiments, each set of lasers in the multi-line beam generator 318 mayinclude fewer or more lasers. The lasers 306 included in the multi-linebeam generator 318 may be any type of lasers. In other embodiments, themulti-line beam generator 318 may include other types of light sourcesthat can produce beams of coherent light. The multi-line beam generator318 is attached to the scanning mechanism 320, which is designed to onlypan the multi-line beam generator, as shown by the curved arrow 324 inFIG. 3C, so that beams of coherent light from the lasers 306 can bescanned across the display surface 102 in the X direction to produce twolines of symbols for each linear scan.

In another embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 3D, the scanning lightdevice 120 includes the multi-line beam generator 318 and a scanningreflective device 326. In this embodiment, the multi-line beam generator318 is designed to be stationary. Thus, the multi-line beam generator318 cannot be panned to change the direction of the beams of coherentlight emitted from the lasers 306. Rather, the scanning reflectivedevice 326 operates to redirect the beams of coherent light from thelasers 306 of the multi-line beam generator 318 to linear scan the beamsacross the display surface 102 (not shown in FIG. 3D) in theX-direction. In one implementation, the scanning reflective device 326includes two sets of seven movable mirrors 316 for the two sets of sevenlasers 306 of the multi-line beam generator 318 so that each movablemirror can reflect beams from a particular laser, as shown in FIG. 3D.Thus, the number of movable mirrors 316 in the scanning reflectivedevice 326 would be increased if there were more lasers 306 in themulti-line beam generator 318. In the embodiment of FIG. 3D, the movablemirrors 316 are part of a MEMS device, and thus, the scanning reflectivedevice 326 is a MEMS mirror array device. In an alternative embodiment,the movable mirrors 316 may be multifaceted reflective optical elementsattached to mechanisms to move the optical elements to selectivelyreflect beams of coherent light from the lasers 306 onto selectedlocations on the display surface 102. In another implementation, asillustrated in FIG. 3E, the scanning reflective device 326 is amultifaceted cylindrical mirror, which is connected to a mechanism (notshown) to selectively rotate the mirror to reflect the beams of coherentlight from the lasers 306 of the multi-line beam generator 318 to linearscan the beams across the display surface 102 in the X direction.

Turning now to FIGS. 4A and 4B, a lid structure 400 in accordance withan embodiment of the invention is shown. The lid structure 400 isdescribed herein as a scanner lid of an AIO device, which includescomponents commonly found in a conventional AIO device, such as thecontroller 106, the scanning and printing mechanism 108, the supply ofprint media 110, the transparent scanning panel 114, the user controlpanel 116 of the AIO device 100 of FIGS. 1A and 1B. However, the lidstructure 400 can be any structural component of an electronic product.The scanner lid 400 includes a scanner housing 402, a top translucentpanel 404, an optional bottom translucent panel 406, a reflectiveelement 408 and a scanning light device 120. The scanner lid 400operates to project beams of coherent light onto one of the translucentpanels 404 and 406 to display graphical information.

The scanner housing 402 provides structural support for the componentsof the scanner lid 400. The scanner housing 402 is configured to have aninterior region 412 defined by top and bottom sides of the scannerhousing. The top translucent panel 404 is attached to the scannerhousing 402 at the top side of the housing, while the bottom translucentpanel 406 is attached to the scanner housing at the bottom side of thehousing. The top side of the scanner housing 402 is the exposed side ofthe scanner lid 400 when the scanner lid is closed. Thus, the bottomside of the scanner housing 402 is the surface that faces the scanningsurface of the AIO device when the scanner lid is closed. As an example,the translucent panels 404 and 406 may be sheets of plastic materialwith translucent properties. As described in more detail below, the topand bottom translucent panels 404 and 406 provide top and bottom displaysurfaces, respectively, on which graphical information can be displayedin accordance with embodiments of the invention.

The reflective element 408 is attached to the bottom side of the scannerhousing 402 in the interior region 412 of the scanner lid 400. Thereflective element 408 has a reflective surface, which is exposed to theinterior region 412 of the scanner lid 400. The scanning light device120 is attached to the top side of the scanner housing 402 in theinterior region 412 of the scanner lid 400. The scanning light device120 operates to emit beams of coherent light in a scanning manner. Thescanning light device 120 is connected to a controller, such as thecontroller 106 shown in FIG. 1B, which controls the emission andscanning of beams of coherent light from the scanning light device.Since the scanning light device 120 was previously described, thescanning light device is not further described. The scanning lightdevice 120 operates to either project beams of coherent light directlyonto the bottom translucent panel 406, as illustrated in FIG. 4B, oronto the top translucent panel 404 via the reflective element 408, asillustrated in FIG. 4A. The top translucent panel 404 is used as adisplay surface when the scanner lid 400 is closed so that graphicalinformation can be displayed on the exposed top surface of the scannerlid. The bottom translucent panel 406 is used as a display surface whenthe scanner lid 400 is opened so that graphical information can bedisplayed on the exposed bottom surface of the scanner lid.

In an alternative embodiment, the scanner lid 400 is essentially turnedupside down so that the scanning light device 120 is attached to thebottom side of the scanner housing 402 in the interior region 412 of thescanner lid 400, and the reflective element 408 is attached to the topside of the scanner housing 402 in the interior region 412 of thescanner lid 400. In this alternative embodiment, the scanning lightdevice 120 projects beams of coherent light directly onto the toptranslucent panel 404, or onto the bottom translucent panel 406 via thereflective element 408.

A method for displaying graphical information in accordance with anembodiment of the invention is described with reference to a flowdiagram of FIG. 5. At optional block 502, a lid structure of anelectrical apparatus is opened to expose a display surface on the bottomside of the lid structure. At block 504, beams of coherent light areemitted onto the display surface of the electrical apparatus, includingscanning the beams of coherent light across the display surface of theelectrical apparatus to form the graphical information on the displaysurface.

Although specific embodiments of the invention have been described andillustrated, the invention is not to be limited to the specific forms orarrangements of parts so described and illustrated. The scope of theinvention is to be defined by the claims appended hereto and theirequivalents.

1.-20. (canceled)
 21. A method of operating an image forming apparatus,the method comprising: scanning an object on a scanning surface of theimage forming apparatus; projecting beams of light onto a displaysurface of the image forming apparatus to form graphical information onthe display surface; and outputting an image of the object based atleast in part on the graphical information.
 22. The method of claim 21,wherein the graphical information includes a status of the image formingapparatus.
 23. The method of claim 21, wherein the graphical informationincludes a command to enter an input.
 24. The method of claim 21,wherein the graphical information includes an input entered by a user ona user control panel.
 25. The method of claim 21, further comprising:selecting a plurality of locations on a matrix of the display surface;and matching the beams of light to the plurality of locations to formthe graphical information.
 26. The method of claim 21, wherein scanningthe object on the scanning surface occurs when a lid structure is in aclosed position and projecting beams of light onto the display surfaceoccurs when the lid structure is in an open position.
 27. The method ofclaim 21, wherein the beams of light are emitted from within an interiorregion of a lid structure of the image forming apparatus onto thedisplay surface of the lid structure to display the graphicalinformation on the display surface.
 28. The method of claim 21, whereinoutputting an image of the object comprises printing onto a print mediumor transmitting to a remote device.
 29. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: redirecting the beams of light in a first direction using atleast one mirror.
 30. The method of claim 9, further comprising:pivoting the beams of light in a second direction, wherein the seconddirection is perpendicular to the first direction.
 31. An image formingapparatus comprising: a scanning surface to support an objectelectronically scanned by the image forming apparatus; a scanning lightdevice configured to project beams of light onto a display surface ofthe image forming apparatus to form graphical information on the displaysurface; and a controller configured to output an image of the objectbased at least in part on the graphical information.
 32. The imageforming apparatus of claim 31, wherein the graphical informationincludes a status of the image forming apparatus.
 33. The image formingapparatus of claim 31, wherein the graphical information includes acommand to enter an input.
 34. The image forming apparatus of claim 31,wherein the graphical information includes an input entered by a user ona control panel.
 35. The image forming apparatus of claim 31, whereinthe controller selects a plurality of locations on a matrix of thedisplay surface and matches the beams of light to the plurality oflocations to form the graphical information.
 36. The image formingapparatus of claim 31, further comprising: a lid structure comprisingthe display surface and movable between an open position and a closedposition, wherein the object is scanned when the lid structure is in theclosed position and the graphical information is formed on the displaysurface when the lid structure is in the open position.
 37. The imageforming apparatus of claim 31, wherein the beams of light are emittedfrom within an interior region of a lid structure of the image formingapparatus onto the display surface of the lid structure to display thegraphical information on the display surface.
 38. The image formingapparatus of claim 31, wherein the controller outputs the image of theobject to a printing mechanism or to a remote device.
 39. The imageforming apparatus of claim 31, further comprising: a scanning reflectivedevice for redirecting the beams of light in a first direction using atleast one mirror.
 40. The image forming apparatus of claim 39, whereinthe scanning light device is configured to pivot the beams of light in asecond direction, wherein the second direction is perpendicular to thefirst direction.